This report is primarily focused on the hourly labour market in North America, giving an overview of key trends, insights and news articles surrounding this segment.
This past month, the province of Nova Scotia increased their minimum wage rates by $0.20 to a rate of $10.60 per hour, offsetting the province’s increasing cost of living. In February, the U.S. saw an average employment time-to-fill rate hit its highest level for the last 15 years. The average time-to-fill rate sat at 25.7 working days, with the wholesale and retail trade facing an average of 19.8 working days.
On April 1st, changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program took effect. Increased pressure was put on the food service and hospitality sectors who employ thousands of low-wage foreign workers. The reforms include the change from the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) to a new more rigorous and costly Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). In addition, the administration of TFWP is now based on wage instead of National Occupation Classification (NOA) to more accurately reflect skill level and labour needed in any given region.
This month, a few noteworthy Executive changes include Marc Metrick, former EVP and Chief Administration Officer for HBC being appointed President of Saks Fifth Avenue. Also, Longo’s shuffle of senior executives placed Michael Forgion as COO, Joey Longo as CDO and Dave Mastroieni as VP of Central Procurement and Facilities Management.